Origin of "Booby Head" cent nickname 0

[RWB]

Someone asked about the nickname "Booby Head" given to 1839 large cents. Here is what director J. Ross Snowden wrote in 1860:

The coinage of the cent, which had been suspended during the year 1815, was resumed in January, 1816, and a new pattern adopted for the obverse, as follows: A head of Liberty, facing to the left. The hair is confined in a roll behind, while the front of the head is bedecked with a tiara, inscribed with the word “liberty.” Around the edge are thirteen stars, and beneath, the date “1816.” The reverse was unaltered. This remained in use through the end of large copper cent production.

The cent of 1839, however, was slightly altered in the effigy, the head being higher and more arched on the top, above the tiara; from which it has acquired the cognomen of “booby-head.”